[Tim Gavrich]

I have heard very little of this golf course, but what I have heard has been positive.  I understand that it is a ~6000 yard par 69.  I drove past it during a driving lesson this afternoon, and what I saw was intriguing.  They do have a website, but it lacks any descriptions of the holes.

Has anyone here played the course?  If so, what are your thoughts?  Is it the hidden gem of public golf in Connecticut?

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Tim,

It's a private course and not very good.

Anthony

[Noel Freeman]

Tony-- How many good courses are there in Connecticut?.. Counting Fishers I say --15?


Fishers
Fairfield
Yale
Woodway
Wee Burn
Greenwich
Round Hill
Oxford Greens
Wintonbury
CC of Waterbury
Shuttle Meadow
Shennecossett
Shorehaven
Bulls Bridge
Hotchkiss

I'm not too familiar with Hartford Golf so there may be a few others...

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Noel,

Fishers is in NY so take that off the list.

Noel, how could you forget Fenwick? Are you trying to break my heart?

Hartford CC is solid. Wampanoag is good and New Haven CC has it's moments. Other than that, I think you have listed them all. Yale is the best and Oxford Greens the most underrated.

Tony

[Noel Freeman]

Tony- We talk not of Fenwick b/c it is to remain a hidden gem and I don't want people to discover it unless they buy your book.. BTW, next time there perhaps with Dr. C. we need to stop at the pharmacy on the road in that has a soda jerk and serves Wicked Egg Creams..

BTW, listened to your podcast on www.travelgolf.com on your book.. Man, your Mass. accent was music to my ears.. I especially like the way your voice pronounced God as Gawwwd.. Are  you sure you are not of Long Island-5 towns stock?

C'mon we know Fishers is really in Connecticut. NY state stole it!

[Phil Benedict]

Tony-- How many good courses are there in Connecticut?.. Counting Fishers I say --15?


Fishers
Fairfield
Yale
Woodway
Wee Burn
Greenwich
Round Hill
Oxford Greens
Wintonbury
CC of Waterbury
Shuttle Meadow
Shennecossett
Shorehaven
Bulls Bridge
Hotchkiss

I'm not too familiar with Hartford Golf so there may be a few others...

Stanwich
New Haven

[Brad Tufts]

Norwich
Race Brook was decent...

from what I've seen pics of and desire to play...

Willimantic?
Fox Hopyard?
Hartford GC

[Dan_Callahan]

Hartford is good.

Fox Hopyard is a great big letdown. One of those places that looks really great from the clubhouse, pro shop and range but then slides considerably once you actually get on the course.

[Dan_Callahan]

I've never played there, but I always thought Farmington looked pretty good from afar. Anyone have first-hand experience?

[Dan_Callahan]

. . . And while I might get laughed at, I've always enjoyed the TPC.

[Tim Gavrich]

. . . And while I might get laughed at, I've always enjoyed the TPC.

I too really like TPC.  Number 15 may well be the best short par four in the state, and the beginning of one hell of a finishing stretch of holes.

The homebody that I am, I'd like to nominate my home course of Hop Meadow CC.  If we're talking "good" here, HMCC is definitely "good."

For all its quirkiness, Watertown CC is pretty interesting, and in terms of nine hole courses, I remember really liking Lake Waramaug CC.

In terms of public, I'd add Fairview Farm as a well maintained, fun golf course in a nice bit of country.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

TPC is very good. The back 9 is really, really solid.

Farmington is OK, with some good holes.

Fox Hopyard is just awful.

Willimantic is quirky, sometimes that's good out there, sometimes that's bad.

Anthony

[Brian Jones]

I would include Tumblebrook in the Hartford area as one of the best in CT. It is one of the best conditioned courses I have ever played.  I believe the USGA used the course  back in 1996 for one of the stroke play rounds when the Mid-Am was played at Hartford GC.  

[Tim Gavrich]

TPC is very good. The back 9 is really, really solid.

Farmington is OK, with some good holes.

Fox Hopyard is just awful.

Willimantic is quirky, sometimes that's good out there, sometimes that's bad.

Anthony

Anthony--
What is so bad about Fox Hopyard, in your opinion?  I've never played it but the reviews I've heard have been positive.  Granted, it's a Rulewich design, and I know that most people here (myself included) don't like Roger Rulewich (his Grande Dunes in SC is one of the most overrated golf courses I've ever played).  With that bias in mind, however, I quite like Crumpin-Fox.  Is the wrong in Fox Hopyard the fact that is doesn't compare to Crumpin-Fox?

--Tim

[LBaker]

Silver Springs, Ridgefield CT
R.Park in Danbury is top ten in CT for conditioned courses

I like Aspetuck, Hartford G.C(not because I started my career there. It's that awesome), Ridgewood in Danbury(presently with renovations), Stanwich, Blackledge in Hebron, and Tony, this ones for you:Buena Vista in W.H.

[SPDB]

What's the story with Brooklawn?

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Tim,

First of all Fox Hopyard is designed by Roger Rulewich and he brings all the usual mundane crap to the site, which, by the way is just awful. There is lots of sudden elevation change and plenty of wetlands. Here, though, Rulewich outdoes himself with a design concept I refer to as, "the reachable, unreachable" par-5. Sure, you can get home in two, but why try because the penalty for missing the green is severe. I played there a few years ago with Geoff Childs and on one of the downhill par-5s - with wetland right in front of the green, we played the hole driver, 8-iron, sand wedge. I played the 18th driver, 7-iron, wedge. As a Golfweek rater it is the only course where I revised my review DOWN.

SPBD

Brooklawn could take down 4,000 trees and nobody would notice. They have the original plans in the clubhouse signed by Tillinghast on the same day the stock market crashed. I think the club was short on money so most of the bunkers were not put in. Brooklawn is worth stopping at from a historical perspective because that is where Gene Sarazan was an assistant club pro before being bankrolled by a member and heading out to play professional golf. There is a wonderful collection of his medals and other memorabilia.

Brian,

I have to respectfully disagree about Tumblebrook. The first nine is Willlie Park, the second Orrin Smith and the third George Fazio. I know the McCumber group was in there for a renovation but the green complexes are all so different there is no way it can meld. During the construction the course was rerouted so that you could play the original Park 9 in order, which I did with Brad Klein. If the club had remained a 9-holer, it would be a fantastic golf course. I really like 9-hole golf courses. Did you know that?

Anthony

[Steve Okula]

I grew up caddying and playing on Pequabuck Golf Club, later working on the maintenance crew there. It is where I learned to love the game, and my point of entry into my profession, so I could not give you an objective opinion of the course any more than I could be objective about my own dear mother. But I love them both.

The original course must go back at least to the twenties, and I don't know who originally laid it out. It was later revised around 1970 by Geoffrey Cornish and Bill Robinson, who changed about six holes. Other holes have been altered by whoever to add length or what not.

I've been living away now for several decades, and I haven't seen the course lately. But last time I looked holes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 17 are close to the original form, which are quirky by today's standards. Hole 1 is a par 4 of 280 yards that people were driving even in the day of persimmon woods. Holes 2,3, and 17 are parallel dog legs each with interior OB. The original old greens are tiny, flat, and they are old south German mixed bent, or at least they were not too long ago.

It is a short, tight course with most holes lined by trees. There are some interesting undulations. Holes 10 and 11 play over a reservoir, and the latter is a tough par 4 with cape strategy and the best hole on the course.

I believe it operates today as semi-private, they will take green fees at certain times.

I would be interested to read the comments of anyone who's played it lately.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

I just checked in with a friend of mine, a 2-handicapp with a wonderful appreciation for architecture. He makes an appearance on page 113 of my book. I asked for his thoughts on Pequabuck:

"It stinks.  Is that enough?

Short, tight, some awkward doglegs, some awkward dog legs with severe elevation changes.

I think 11 is the worst hole on the course; 400 yards, reservoir all the way down the left, you have to lay up because the fairway pinches in, green is about the size of your car and the left half drops off into the water.  Brilliant!"

Anthony

[SPDB]

Tim,

First of all Fox Hopyard is designed by Roger Rulewich and he brings all the usual mundane crap to the site, which, by the way is just awful. There is lots of sudden elevation change and plenty of wetlands. Here, though, Rulewich outdoes himself with a design concept I refer to as, "the reachable, unreachable" par-5. Sure, you can get home in two, but why try because the penalty for missing the green is severe. I played there a few years ago with Geoff Childs and on one of the downhill par-5s - with wetland right in front of the green, we played the hole driver, 8-iron, sand wedge. I played the 18th driver, 7-iron, wedge. As a Golfweek rater it is the only course where I revised my review DOWN.

I'm not enamored of Fox Hopyard either (the bunkers and their edging are the worst i've ever seen), but the highlighted quote above to me seems illogical, that seems to be a reason to like a par 5, not dislike it. If the penalty were benign for missing the green, it wouldn't be called a reachable par 5. It would be called a par 4.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

SPDB,

You miss my point. I'm not asking for benign, I'm asking for a smidgen - yes smidgen - of forgivenss. For a reachable par-5 to work there has to be a reasonable amount of area to miss; a bailout area if you please. On the downhill hole I was talking about, short, long, left and right are all trouble. All you have to do is hit a long iron/wood to a small green off a downhill lie.

On the 18th there is a narrow neck that is open in front of the green but the fairway pitches so severely to the right and towards a pond it makes no sense to go there either. If they sound like fun holes to you have at it but for me they are no-brainers that call for layups.

The only person I ever met who raved about the course was a 2-handicapp who shot seventy-something. He's the kind of guy who if he had shot in the 80s he would have hated the place.

Anthony
 

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()